Sunday, September 11, 2011

How to Correctly Humidify a New Cigar Humidor

By Mark Tremont


You've spent months looking for the ideal humidor to keep your prized cigars as fresh as the day they were rolled and finally selected a beautiful cigar humidor to keep on the mantle. But what do you do now? Before you transfer your cigar stock over to your humidor you need to be sure it's correctly humidified so they won't dry out prior to being able to to enjoy them. There's been much talk during the last 100 years on the best strategies for humidifying a humidor but we're going to review the most trustworthy method which produces the best results. It needs a little more work but at the end it'll be definitely worth it as you relax while puffing away on your first cigar of the Spring after a long, cold winter.

To get your cigar humidor up to the proper humidity level you are going to need a few materials including: distilled water, a never used sponge and a precise hygrometer. It's important to acknowledge that distilled water is vital as tap water and bottled water both can have contaminations and minerals that may cause bacteria to grow in your humidor and unwished-for-for smells. Distilled water is fully clear of any impurities that could harm your cigar stash. A spot on hygrometer is critical too as many can be surprisingly incorrect when they arrive on your doorstep. We suggest running your hygrometer thru a salt test before you instill your trust in it.

After you have all of your materials gathered you can get started with the process. Simply pour a little of of the distilled water into a clean bucket and submerge the sponge so it soaks up the water. You do not need to soak your humidor but instead ring out the sponge so it's a little damp and carefully wipe down all exposed cedar within your humidor. Once you've totally wiped down all the cedar wood and any shelves then you can shut the lid and let the humidity absorb into cedar. Not so many people know that cedar is a really penetrable material and will sponge up water like a sponge.

You are not quite finished yet. It's very advisable that you continue this process 4-5 times in a 48 hour time frame to be certain the cedar is as saturated as it wants to be. Remember not to over saturate the inside with each wipe down as the goal is to not "distress" the wood throughout the process. At the end of each wipe down be sure you leave your trusted hygrometer inside and keep checking it as you go along. After your hygrometer has been steady between 70%-75% for at least 12 hours then you are prepared to start storing your cigars. At this point you can fill your humidifier unit unit unit unit unit unit with distilled water and put it in the back of the humidor and you are ready to go.

Correctly humidifying a cigar humidor could be a relatively time consuming process but doing it right the 1st time could save you hundreds of lost cigars in the future.




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